Airbnb admits its fast-paced nature makes it 'very difficult' to partner with, but is eyeing more long-term brand collabs this year
The pace of change makes forging a partnership with Airbnb "difficult", its own EMEA marketing director has admitted. But looking ahead, it wants to establish more long-term and “meaningful” relationships with like-minded brands, starting with Nike.
Airbnb
Airbnb has earned a reputation for its impressive brand collaborations, be it the Art Institute of Chicago to enable guests to stay in a recreation of Van Gogh's Bedroom or teaming up with global aid agency International Rescue Committee to provide short-term accommodation for refugees.
However, its brand marketing director for Europe, Caroline Hudack, admitted that Airbnb is challenging to partner with because of the speed at which it works and the changing priorities of its leadership.
“At Airbnb we get a tonne of inbound [partnership requests], I guess it’s seen as one of the ‘sexy’ brands and we can share some of that ‘fairy dust’,” she said at an event in London today (24 February).
“I would say we’re probably very difficult to partner with, because we’re so fast moving and our priorities change a lot."
A case in point is its series of partnerships with airlines ranging from Qantas and Virgin America to more recently Delta where it allowed SkyMiles members to earn miles on their Airbnb bookings worldwide. It was one of Airbnb’s largest US airline partnership, but then the company changed its plans.
“So where we need to go is having more partners and building longer term, meaningful, relationships.”
Hudack offered Nike as an example of one brand that it is looking to build closer ties with. Last October the two joined forces to give San Francisco residents the chance to stay overnight at a gallery organised by basketball star Kevin Durant, who’s sponsored by the sportswear maker.
She went on to reveal that Nike and Airbnb are now working on more projects which will land this year. And it’s these kind of deals with “brands that are in adjacent spaces but very aligned in terms of values and missions” that Airbnb is courting.
It might seem that Airbnb is a well-established travel giant, but in reality only 58% of UK consumers are aware of Airbnb. That figure is even lower in Brazil, where just 25% of people know what it is.
So while Hudack said Airbnb was of interest to smaller partners because of its “sexy” image, it too needs the marketing prowess of bigger brands, like Nike, to build its own awareness and consideration.
Her comments came at an event titled 'Wantedness', organised by Wunderman, which was tied around a recent survey from the creative agency which looked at the importance of brand experience.
One key finding was that a surprising 89% of people believe it's now important for brands to share their personal values. Wunderman's conclusion was that companies need to "stop thinking about customers being loyal to you and think about how you can demonstrate your loyalty to customers" in an original way.
This article has been updated since it was originally published.